Last year I finally finished off my conversion of an original centre box Bachmann 20 into 20302 in the original DRS livery.  Along with my pair of DRS 37s the plan was always for a pair of DRS 20s, Bachmann’s livery cock up on their DRS 20/3 release and offer of replacement bodies offered a solution.  Thanks to @WILLIAMfor offering me the original incorrect body from his 20/3 I was set to go.

The model has the DRS logos in the wrong place for 306 onwards, and the wrong roof colour /end detail for 301-5 (for which the logo is right). 
 

So the plan for the model:

- remove the lights board from the inner end in order to get the new body to fit on an old chassis (still to be sourced)

-remove NRN roof pod and relocate further back

-Extreme Etchings roof grill

-repaint the roof in grey

-Cab end, remove centre headlight and multi working socket / fill holes and touch up paint.

- nose end, remove centre headlight fill hole and touch up paint.

-fuel tanks - add gauge to ends

- handrail - shorten by one panel on right hand side, fill the 5mm gap halfway along the length 

- I will also probably replace the logos with the transfers I already have for consistency between the two locos.

-use leftover multi working socket to upgrade 302, also rebuild the exhaust ports to match the newer body.  I will also beef up the thickness of the WIPACs to match the new model

- renumber (ipa and a cocktail stick to remove the originals)

edit: in addition I now realise the nose multiple working socket should be higher on the early locos as do the washer jets. And the ‘footplate’ needs painting blue

The start point

the current state after most of the plastic work is complete.  I couldn’t find a spare roof pod so made one from plastic following a guide on James Wells website.  The lights were removed from the circuit board, lens removed and filled with evergreen rod.  Now ready to start painting the roof.

The big question remaining is whether the footplate on the early DRS locos should be black or blue…

Currently 302 has it blue and the ex 306 black, so one needs fixing…